Three hurt in Escondido stabbing

North County Times

ESCONDIDO —— A man repeatedly stabbed someone, then almost cut
his own arm off at an Escondido apartment complex, police said
Tuesday. Officers later arrested Rogelio Gutierrez Lopez, 28, on
suspicion of attempted murder, detective Lt. David Mankin said.

He said Lopez thought his wife and another man, identified only
as Ramon Ruiz, were having an affair. Lopez called Ruiz on Monday
night to the Lopezes' apartment on East Grand Avenue, Mankin
said.

With his wife there, the lieutenant said, Lopez confronted Ruiz.
Ruiz later told police that he and the woman are friends, but there
wasn't an affair.

Lopez suddenly drew two kitchen knives he had on him and
repeatedly stabbed Ruiz, Mankin said. He said Ruiz fled outside,
then returned to help the screaming wife over a patio fence.

Meanwhile, Mankin said, Lopez had cut his own neck and nearly
severed his left arm at the elbow.

"It was hanging on by a piece of skin," Mankin said. "He was
telling his wife that he loved her, and that's why he was doing
it."

He said officers forced their way into the locked apartment and
a locked bathroom, where they found Lopez lying in a large pool of
blood.

Lopez and Ruiz were admitted to an area hospital, where Lopez
underwent extensive surgery, the lieutenant said. He said both are
expected to recover. The wife was treated for a cut on her hand and
released, Mankin said.